Through this battle, Xiao Yu had gained a clear understanding of his strength. With more magical power than an ordinary late Core Formation cultivator, divine sense approaching that of a Nascent Soul cultivator, and the keen Golden Bamboo Divine Thunder Swords at his command, he should have been able to defeat most Core Formation cultivators.
Against a Nascent Soul cultivator, however, he had absolutely no chance of winning. Xiao Yu still had that much self-awareness. If he truly encountered one, the question would be whether he could escape, and that would depend on the circumstances.
Speaking of the Golden Bamboo Divine Thunder Swords, he could not overlook the Golden Casket inside his body. Over the past year, Xiao Yu had kept several flying swords in his dantian to temper with pill flame, while placing all the remaining hundred-plus swords inside the Golden Casket, allowing his magical power and pill flame to circulate among them.
By comparing those inside and outside the casket, Xiao Yu discovered that the Golden Casket increased a magic treasure's power through tempering five times faster than the ordinary method. In other words, one year of tempering inside the casket equaled five years of tempering with pill flame.
Thus, the Golden Bamboo Divine Thunder Swords he had used in his earlier battle against the old Daoist and his two companions had not seemed newly forged at all. They were fully functional magic treasures capable of unleashing their abilities to the fullest.
It was precisely this discovery that had led Xiao Yu to forgo crafting puppets before this journey out to sea. Instead, he had devoted all his efforts to cultivating the two secret arts, Bloodshadow Escape and the Formation-Origin Sword Union Art.
Xiao Yu felt that rather than waste time and energy crafting Foundation Establishment puppets, he